Tesco sticking it's neck out

I remember first using the supermarket cafes when they offered 99p breakfasts and free refills of coffee.

Tesco are now trying a different approach. They have bought an upmarket coffee chain called Giraffe and are to introduce the brand to many of their stores. Presumably they hope the image it creates will reflect well on the store itself.

Is now the time to be moving upmarket when Lidl and Aldi seem to be taking sales with a minimalist strategy?

Tesco's priority is of course maximum profits and they cannot achieve that if they drive customers away so customer satisfaction has to be high on their list of priorities. What they seem to have done with the horsemeat scandal is that in order to drive costs down, as customers have been demanding low prices, they put pressure on their suppliers who in turn may have cut corners with the result that the supply chain became out of control. They have belatedly woken up to this and are now producing adverts and leaflets about the use of British food.

Tesco's will only provide cafe's if they are profitable. I find that ours is a good place to get a cuppa whilst waiting for a prescription.

As for Tesco having agreements with councils I think that falls into the conspiracy plot scenario. Other supermarkets will only move in where they feel that they can compete. If a town is only big enough for one supermarket then whoever gets there first corners the market.